according to a recent study, the fiscal cliff gridlock in washington has taken a tol. a new survey by the conference board shows levels in the first half of december falling to the lowest level since august. an unexpectedly sharp decline. the survey indicates that consumer anxiety stems from worries about the fiscal future and not from the current state of the economic. >> that's completely true. if you look at a lot of economic indicators they're good. the housing market is stabilizes and unemployment is ticks down. companies that have a lot of cash on balance sheets, but this december drop in can confidence, it's hard to think about what this would be about, if not the cliff. >> it's what you said. if you noted you may face thousands of dollars in increases if you're a married couple in taxes, if you're existing on unemployment insurance that may not be there in january, why would you go on a shoppi ping spree or shopping all if you can avoid it? people keep saying, well, it won't be that bad for long. that's according to how long you have money. if you're middle cla